Jupiter Artland staff have responded to a critical review of the impressive Edinburgh attraction after a visitor claimed they were upset by 'staring dogs'.
The bizarre exchange played out on TripAdvisor after the tourist left a two star review, as they claimed they got lost after being unable to follow an 'inaccurate map'.
They suggested 'dogs came running up to me and were staring', to which the Jupiter Artland team responded: 'they're just excited to see you!'.
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Despite generally impressive ratings on the travel review website, with the Artland scoring 4.5 / 5 from over 600 reviews, the recent guest chose to criticise the site with a 2 star rating, titled 'Not what I had hoped for'.
It read: "I almost drove past the ticket office, because there was no stop sign and the ticket person was inside the shed. There were no stop signs or indications this is where I was to stop and pay. I had to reverse after I saw the ticket officer waving at me from within the shed.
"I was given a map of the park, but it is wrong. I spent more time than I should trying to get to the Weeping statues and could not find them. At first I thought it was me not being able to read the map, but I bumped into a couple who said that they too could not find them and that the map had taken them to the wrong area of the park.
"I also walked past a house towards the cafe where dogs came running up to me and were staring. Not a fan of dogs, so was a little cautious as to why dogs would feel threatened at visitors walking past their house, especially as it's a public area."
Despite the negativity, the guest did praise some of the on-site art, although suggested the attraction was overpriced.
They said: "Some of the landscape designs are pretty. But I felt myself getting irritated at trying to follow a map which was not accurate. I had several people questioning the map as they walked past me as well.
"£10 per adult to walk around a park was, in my opinion, a little excessive."
The Jupiter Artland team promptly responded to defend the popular landmark, while clarifying the on-site dogs are friendly towards guests.
They said: "Our box office is located on our main drive, shortly after the entrance gates. We have two signs that indicate for visitors to stop at the box office and a 5mph speed limit so our intention is that drivers are moving slowly enough to see the signs and stop.
"We're sorry that you struggled with our map. The map is an illustration of the Artland rather than to-scale however, all artworks are shown in their correct locations. If you do struggle to find artworks, we have our friendly Visitor Experience Assistants who are located throughout the Artland and are happy to help with any queries!
"Bonnington House is at the heart of Jupiter Artland and home to our Director, their family and their dogs. The dogs are family dogs and remain within the private grounds of the house at all times so visitors need not worry if the dogs show interest in them - they're just excited to see you!
"As a charity, all money made from our ticket sales funds our Learning Programme and our mission to engage with every child in Scotland - this is reflected in our ticket prices."
To find out more about Jupiter Artland and what you can find there, you can visit their website here.
